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  • The Verge

  • Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years That Shook the World
  • By: Patrick Wyman
  • Narrated by: Patrick Wyman
  • Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (40 ratings)

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The Verge

By: Patrick Wyman
Narrated by: Patrick Wyman
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Publisher's Summary

The creator of the hit podcast series Tides of History and Fall of Rome explores the four explosive decades between 1490 and 1530, bringing to life the dramatic and deeply human story of how the West was reborn.

In the best-selling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror, The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term.

As told through the lives of 10 real people - from famous figures like Christopher Columbus and wealthy banker Jakob Fugger to a ruthless small-time merchant and a one-armed mercenary captain - The Verge illustrates how their lives, and the times in which they lived, set the stage for an unprecedented globalized future.

Over an intense 40-year period, the seeds for the so-called "Great Divergence" between Western Europe and the rest of the globe would be planted. From Columbus' voyage across the Atlantic to Martin Luther's sparking the Protestant Reformation, the foundations of our own, recognizably modern world came into being.

For the past 500 years, historians, economists, and the policy-oriented have argued which of these individual developments best explains the West's rise from backwater periphery to global dominance. As The Verge presents it, however, the answer is far more nuanced.

©2021 Patrick Wyman (P)2021 Hachette Audio
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

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Informative and well narrated

Engrossing and informative, Patrick's narration flows wonderfully as he takes you through this pivotal time in European history. Very glad he did the narration, I don't think it would have been the same without it.

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An awesome read

Patrick's assessment of the interconnectedness of histories over those 40 years is outstanding. He was so captivating with the Fall of Rome I've listened to all of his work since. I look forward to more.

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Great listen!

Love Patrick's podcast and the book does not let down. Definitely recommend for all those history buffs out there!

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Good narrator, really dense information

I really enjoy history books, so thought this would be right up my alley. The narrator is good. The info is very dull and dense. 40 years of economics

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